Using Spell-Check a Day…

A gentleman spotted this typo on literature he received from the doctor’s office. Oops-a-daisy, where’s the “h” in “Rescheduled”?

It looks like a slight case of phonetic spelling. The “sch” prefix sounds like “sk” here. Besides “schedule,” here are some other words that fall into that category:

• School
• Scheme
• Schizophrenia

It’s tricky because the following words have the same “sch” prefix, but have the “sh” sound:

• Schlep
• Schmooze
• Schnitzel

English is strange, huh? The good news is that spell-check will set us straight with all of these.

Happy reading and writing, my friends!

Sean C. Wright is the author of the short story collection A Gathering of Butterflies and the novella Honey Riley. For more information about her writing skills and how she can assist you with yours–business or consumer–visit http://www.iwrightaway.com/.

Send me your typo images! Snap pictures and email them to msseanc@aol.com. They must be real pictures and not images in online links, as those might be doctored. I’m looking for The Real McCoy. Conceal the company’s identity if possible. No sweat if you can’t. I’ll hide the name before I post it. We’re not looking to embarrass, but to educate.

Rush to the Nearest Dictionary

Uh oh. It appears that the “n” in “emergency” rushed away from the potential ruckus to be on the safe side. I spotted this typo on the exit door at a restaurant…

It’s a case of a word having a nearly inaudible syllable/letter. So we often spell it phonetically, which looks like what happened above. And if the word has a silent letter, it’s really very difficult to spell correctly. Some other words with letters that we barely hear:

• Mathematics. The poor little “e” in the middle is often omitted in spelling it.
• Deficit. Sometimes the middle “i” doesn’t get invited to the party.
• Matinee. Same thing with the middle “i.” This word came to us from the French. Foreign words are especially tricky, and sometimes require a double-check for their spelling.

Are there any words that you mistakenly leave letters out when you attempt to spell them? Please share.

Happy reading and writing, my friends!

Sean C. Wright is the author of the short story collection A Gathering of Butterflies and the novella Honey Riley. For more information about her writing skills and how she can assist you with yours–business or consumer–visit http://www.iwrightaway.com/.

Send me your typo images! Snap pictures and email them to msseanc@aol.com. They must be real pictures and not images in online links, as those might be doctored. I’m looking for The Real McCoy. Conceal the company’s identity if possible. No sweat if you can’t. I’ll hide the name before I post it. We’re not looking to embarrass, but to educate.